Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock
Christian Suspense. 352 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
One father was murdered. Another was convicted of his death. All because their children fell in love.
Nate Beckett has spent his life fighting wildfires instead of the lies and rumors that drove him from his Colorado hometown. His mother begs him to come back now that his father has been released from prison, but it isn’t until he’s sidelined by an injury that he’s forced to return and face his past. But that means facing Brenna too.
Fourteen years ago, Nate was in love with the preacher’s daughter. When Pastor Strickland discovered Brenna defied him to sneak out with Nate, the fight between Strickland and Nate’s drunken dad was loud—and very public. Strickland was found murdered later that night, and everyone accused Roy Beckett. When the church burned down not long after, people assumed Nate set the fire to get even for his father’s conviction. He let the rumors fly and left town without looking back.
Brenna is stunned to learn that the man convicted of murdering her father has been pardoned. The events of that night set her life on a bad course, and now she’s fighting a brutal custody battle with her ex and his new wife where he’s using lies and his family’s money to sway the judge. Brenna is barely hanging on, and she’s turned to alcohol to cope. Shame and fear consume her.
As Nate and Brenna deal with the present—including new information about that fateful night and a wildfire that’s threatening their town—the past keeps igniting. Nate is the steady force Brenna has so desperately needed. But she’ll have to learn to trust him again first.
My Review:
It’s been several years since I read a Blackstock book, but I love mysteries and she writes tension so well! When I saw one of her newer books in my library, I decided it was time to dive back into the world of Terri Blackstock.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m older now and have studied writing more extensively, but there were a few things I found a little predictable in the plot–like the primary villain and a few herrings. But I must admit, I had no idea what the villain’s motive was, so it was really neat to see the pieces of the puzzle revealed one step at a time. And, I still contest that it’s not really the end result that keeps me reading, but the journey it takes to get there. And Blackstock is a master of page-turning, tension-filled suspense. It was really neat to see the way everything wove in together. And it was also kind of neat to solve an older case. Most murder mysteries are fresh murders, but this story focused on Brenna’s custody battle and a murder that was a decade and a half old. So, that was kind of a neat twist on the genre.
Also the characters in this one! I’m a sucker for a uniform anyway, but the whole fire fighting element here was really fun. I loved the glimpse into that world of service and those brave, selfless fighters who risk their lives to save others. Nate was charming and I love having a noble hero to look up to, someone to point toward as an example. Fiction is so filled with abusive, dysfunctional, or “cool” bad boys. We raise up characters who aren’t really men as God made them to be. Nate had a beautiful balance of realistic, flawed, and still noble and good heroism, which I think we need more of in our books.
And Brenna. Whew, my heart, Brenna. The whole plot line of a custody battle and a mother fighting for her children automatically pulls on the heart strings. But Brenna’s struggle with alcohol–as well as Nate’s family tension and the strain in his relationship with his father because of his childhood–really hit me to the core. There were a few very well portrayed family and alcohol dynamics that could be mildly triggering if you have any experience with those things at all. I definitely invested in Brenna’s struggle through the plot and I could really root for her as she grew.
A page-turning story that makes for a quick read with flawed, but true characters, a twisty plot with an old murder, and the beautiful thread of hope that Blackstock weaves in for inspiration. She explores themes of dysfunction, addiction, bitterness, sacrifice, heroism, etc. No foul language, clean romance, and very little violence (though there was a murder, it wasn’t graphic or gory, and it was an old case, as mentioned). I’d recommend for 15-17+